Jerry Maren (1920–2018)

Jerry Maren was born Gerard Marenghi in Roxbury, Massachusetts on January 24, 1920. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with pituitary dwarfism. By the age of 18, he was performing with a vaudeville act called Three Steps and a Half. He was cast as the Munchkin leader of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz. He spent his life as a performer, appearing in more than 60 films and television series and doing stunt work for child actors. In 1957, he and Billy Barty founded the nonprofit advocacy organization Little People of America. Maren's memoir, Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin, was published in 2006. He died from congestive heart failure on May 24, 2018 at the age of 98. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin… (més)